


Crash and Burn

by FiveLeafClover



Category: Casualty (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, fight, s29 e28 under pressure, s29 e29 the king's crossing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-10
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2019-05-19 03:16:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14865563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiveLeafClover/pseuds/FiveLeafClover
Summary: (Based on spoilers for 11th and 18th of April) After Taylor disappeared and Cal stole Ethan's money, the tension is high. But, will a surprise appearance from Taylor break Ethan and Cal apart further or bring them closer?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [backdated fic, originally posted on fanfiction/net under the username InfinityAndOne, posted here 07/06/18]

To say the tension between Cal and Ethan was tight would be an understatement. If the two were in the same room, things would become suddenly colder. You could practically slice through the tension with a knife. This wasn't unnoticed by anyone.

Everyone knew what happened between them for two reasons. The first was Taylor's fake charity. Many of the ED staff had contributed to it, only to find out it was fake. The second was Cal's desperate state and Ethan's obvious anger towards Cal, even though it wasn't without pity.

Ethan was on the edge only a couple of days previously, only for Cal to tip him over it when he undermined Ethan throughout their shift, causing Ethan to tell Cal to move out. It was obvious Cal was in denial about what happened. To him, Taylor and he had something that nothing can part, and everything Taylor did had a good enough reason that it would easily be forgiven. No one could convince him otherwise, not even Ethan. Following Cal moving out, he had been kipping on Robyn's, Lofty's and Max's sofa. He would have spent it in a hotel but Robyn didn't trust him enough not to get drunk and end up in a gutter somewhere.

Robyn and Lofty had left a sleeping Cal on the sofa when he had dropped off in the middle of a film they had been watching. Robyn covered him up with the usual blanket he used and went up to bed herself. She hadn't blamed Ethan for kicking him out, after all they hadn't exactly been the best brothers since she had known them, and she could only imagine what it was like before they arrived at Holby ED.

Cal woke up to darkness. Feeling the floor, he managed to locate his phone and check the time.  _1:23am_. He hated staying up since Taylor disappeared, it only made him think more about her. For the next 10 minutes, he tossed and turned on the sofa, but found he couldn't sleep. Taylor haunted his thoughts and he could only think of doing one thing. He pulled on his jacket, surprised he slept fully clothed, grabbed his wallet and phone, before sneaking out the door.

Ethan, however, lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. His money was the least of his worries. Despite that being his inheritance from his late mother, all that he could think about was Taylor and Cal. After Cal undermined him, constantly, he blew. Cal had been on his nerves, and especially in the past week, so he just saw red. It was the final straw and Ethan couldn't take it. Thinking back on it, Ethan didn't know whether he was being harsh or not. Technically, Cal stole Ethan's money, which is a criminal offence, but Cal, being Cal, would do anything for love, Ethan just didn't know he was prepared to steal from family. What he did know was how much Cal actually loved her- he did want to marry her after all. One thing that baffled Ethan was what Cal told him a little over a week ago. _'I wanted to do something good- for once in my life.'_ Ethan wondered whether Cal truly thought that he had never done anything good in his life. That was a conversation for another time. Ethan just hoped that Cal would see sense soon.

A banging on the door awoke Lofty and Robyn from their sleep. Robyn looked over at her clock. Who the hell would be knocking on their door at 4 in the morning? If couldn't be Max for he was defiantly with Zoe- the pure fact they were dating confused Robyn to the extreme. Despite that, she rolled out of bed, almost landing on the floor. Slipping on her dressing gown, she noticed Lofty had woken too and heard him coming out of his room. "Who do you suppose would be knocking?" Robyn enquired, switching on the landing light.

"This time? Could be a drunk who found the wrong house..." He speculated before laughing slightly, which Robyn followed with a smile. The knocking continued louder. "We better get that before they wake up the whole neighbourhood." Lofty and Robyn made their way downstairs and both walked to the sofa to check whether Cal had woken up, both rather surprised they hadn't heard a sound from him. They looked down and gave each other knowing glances. Cal wasn't on the sofa, and they rightly guessed who was at the door.

Lofty opened the door and wasn't surprised when Cal almost fell on him. He held him upright, and with the help of Robyn, guided him to the sofa to sit him down. All they heard from him were slurred mumbles for about 5 minutes. Seemingly a little more sober, Cal took a grateful sip from the water Lofty had handed him and sat back of the sofa, holding back tears that were starting to form in his eyes. "What time did you leave?" Lofty asked tentatively.

"About 1:30." Cal admitted, a tear rolling down his cheek. Both Robyn and Lofty felt sorry for the man sat by them. Not only had the love of his life gone walkabout, Ethan didn't seem to be forgiving him anytime soon, and he probably felt guilty about it all. "Sorry for...er...waking you."

"It's fine." Robyn consoled him. She knew Cal had gone out drinking to forget, but she saw it only made everything worse as more tears escaped his eyes and he tried to hide them.

"She's gone..." He choked out. "I thought...I thought she liked me..." Both Lofty and Robyn gave him sympathetic glances. "I loved her..." Lofty and Robyn didn't know how to respond to this, but it didn't really matter for Cal was fast asleep in a matter of seconds after telling them that.

"He is going to have the mother of hangovers tomorrow." Lofty laughed slightly, before placing a bucket next to Cal for when the inevitable would start. Both he and Robyn made their way up to bed after that.

Cal dragged himself into work the next morning with a hell of a headache being numbed by a couple of Panadols. He could only hope that he didn't look too rough. Walking into the staff room, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Ethan. Ethan spun round and saw Cal, before immediately making his way out of the staff room. Neither of them had spoken or even made proper contact with each other since a couple of days previously, apart from the odd glance between them- speaking unheard words on great volume.

Cal was leaning against a table in the nurse's station willing for his head ache to go away, while avoiding contact with Ethan who was looking at something a bit too intensely. Ethan was really just staring blankly at the screen, wondering whether to approach his brother. A few more people were there to, glancing nervously between the two of them, dreading anything that could happen. Then Cal's phone started to ring.

He looked at the Caller ID, and saw it was Unknown. Despite that, he answered and was shocked at who he heard next. "Cal, it's Taylor, you have to help me!" She pleaded. The desperation in her voice made Cal feel sick at why she sounded so vulnerable.

"Taylor?!" He spoke in shock. Everyone's heads shot up when Cal said her name, even Ethan's. Cal didn't even register this, he was too focused on the girl on the other end of the phone. "What's wrong?!"

"I need you to come." Cal felt a sense of duty to her as she told him where she was.

"I'll come as soon as I can." He quickly hung up and noticed many of his colleagues staring intently at him. He saw Ethan approach him, but couldn't make out his facial expression.

"Was that Taylor?" Ethan already knew the answer to that, but needed confirmation, which the nod of Cal's head gave him. Cal quickly pushed his patient notes into Ethan's hands.

"Cover for me." Cal sounded like he wasn't going to take no for an answer, but this was Taylor.

"You can't be serious, Caleb! This is Taylor, who disappeared with 15 grand a week ago. Then you back out of calling the police on her, after having a one night stand with some random woman and arrive in her flashy car. Then you have the cheek to borrow more money from me after apologising for stealing the 15k. Oh, and, of course, then you spend a whole shift undermining me. You expect me to cover for you so you can run after this woman?! For god's sake Cal. She had a fake charity, she moved out without telling you, and you're just running after her?!" He spoke disbelievingly.

"I love her Ethan! Don't you want me to be happy?" Cal spoke. Ethan was taken aback at this. Of course he wanted Cal to be happy, but he needed to see what was right in front of him.

"Right, fine. Go and run after a criminal, who you stole your own brother's money for. Oh, and also forget that she completely used you. But, of course, that doesn't matter, because you're prepared to betray your own brother for a woman who played you." Ethan fought back. By now, most of the ED staff had gathered to see what all the commotion was about.

"That isn't fair, Ethan. I was doing something good!" Cal shouted at him. Ethan slammed down the patient notes and stood his ground.

"Just because you blew your inheritance, doesn't give you the right to steal mine! Hmmm...what was it our mother put in her will? Oh yeah, she didn't want you spending the inheritance on 'gambling, drink and women'. Well, Caleb, you did just that, with not only yours, but mine. Of course, that doesn't matter because Taylor is more important than anything. You run out during shifts for a booty call, you steal for her, and you still deny the fact that she used you. She doesn't love you, Caleb. I'm sorry, but she doesn't." Ethan could see the hurt on Cal's face, but also the anger and the denial still present.

"No. We have something special, and she needs my help." Cal told him before darting out of the ED, leaving a very frustrated Ethan behind.

"I am going to kill him one day." Ethan spoke before seeing those who had witnessed the whole thing disperse. Rita walked up to him to offer comfort. "He is love struck..."

"I know, but you have to be there for him when he crashes and burns." Rita told him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this last night between 2 and 5 am, because sleeping wasn't possible with this floating around in my mind! This is chapter one of two, and the second should be up tomorrow before Casualty!
> 
> If you have a spare minute, a review will be greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

Cal opened the door to the public toilet and saw his girlfriend teary eyed and looking very rough. What struck him most was the knife sticking in her leg. "Wh...what happened?" He stuttered.

"I...I am so...sorry, Cal." She managed to get out through her sobs. "These men...I...er...I got involved with...with the wrong people..." She admitted, trying to contain her crying.

"You need to get to a hospital..." Cal started, but Taylor had other ideas.

"No, please. I don't want to. Please." Cal could hear the desperation in her voice, but he couldn't treat her. His hangover hadn't subsided and his hands were shaking. He needed another doctor, and dare he say it, Ethan was the only person who he felt could come.

Ethan pulled out his phone after it started ringing and saw Cal was calling. As much as he didn't want to, he answered. "Ethan, please come. Taylor's hurt, please. I need you." Cal pleaded. Ethan didn't want to help Taylor or Cal, for that matter, but Cal needed help and at the end of the day, Cal was his brother. Ethan agreed to help Cal and loaded both his and Cal's patients on Zoe who didn't have the chance to object. Before meeting Cal and Taylor, though, there was one more thing Ethan had to do. He unlocked his phone and dialled 999.

The look on Cal's face when he saw Ethan arrive was between gratitude and dread- probably because of what Ethan would do when he came face to face with Taylor. Surprisingly, facing Taylor didn't seem to faze Ethan one bit as he examined her leg. "You need to be in a hospital, Taylor." Ethan tried to persuade her. She shook her head vigorously. "Well, at least sit in my car. It's warmer and I may be able to treat you better." He tried. She nodded reluctantly and Ethan helped her stand up. Cal was stood stock still as he saw two police officers making their way over to them. Immediately he knew this was Ethan's doing and felt nothing but hate for his younger brother.

Taylor too noticed the two police offers, but they had reached where she was and there was no escape as they arrested her. "Taylor Ashbie, I am arresting you on suspicion of theft and fraud. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence against you. Do you understand?" Taylor nodded her head, defeated. She stared at Ethan hatefully, as did Cal. Ethan knew they were going to go to the hospital because of the knife, but it was done. Taylor was arrested.

Taylor was taken away, and Cal found the energy to move from his shock created position in the direction of Taylor, all the while trying to speak to her. The police officers stopped with Taylor to look at a very irate and desperate Cal. Ethan had managed to get in front of Cal and try and stop him. Ethan's arms kept being batted away and Cal approached Taylor. Ethan pushed an angry Cal back and Cal finally stopped to face his brother. "What did you do that for?!"

"Cal, she's a criminal. She stole money..." Ethan couldn't continue for a very mad Cal had interrupted him.

"I was going to get your money back." Cal spoke as calmly as he could, in the background seeing Taylor being put in the back of a police car. Ethan shook his head, not believing Cal. This time, Cal raised his voice. "God! I was going to get your money back!" He shouted into Ethan's face. Ethan knew that it was very probable Cal was lying to him. On top of everything else that happened, Ethan couldn't trust Cal one bit, and it was Ethan's turn to crash and burn. Everything that had happened between them, and recent events, he lost it.

Ethan lashed out and he and Cal got into a full on fight, neither one realising properly who they were fighting. They pushed each other, grabbed each other's tops, hit each other multiple times. Cal managed to get Ethan to the ground and pin his shoulders, something neither of them were expecting. Cal had never held Ethan down before. That was when they both realised just who they were fighting. "What's wrong with you!" Ethan shouted. He realised what happened but Cal wouldn't loosen his grip. However, those words brought him back to reality and his face turned to one of embarrassment. He let go of Ethan and fell backwards, bringing his knees up to his chest while Ethan assumed the same position as him. One of the police officers approached them, but neither of them looked towards him.

"We're taking her to Holby City ED, do you want to follow on?" He asked. After seeing that scene unfold in front of him, he wondered what either of them would do. Ethan nodded.

"Come on, Cal. I'll drive." As much as both of them hated being in the same car as one another, Ethan had to get back to work, and Cal wanted to see Taylor, and it would be much quicker than a taxi.

Arriving at the ED meant Ethan got out of the car and made a speedy getaway to the staff room leaving Cal the keys to lock the car. Cal watched as his arrested girlfriend hobbled out of the back of a police car, handcuffed to one of the officers, with a knife sticking out of her leg. He slowly made his way out of the car and locked it, following solemnly behind Taylor and the two police officers.

Stunned was not the word to describe when the staff of Holby City ED were feeling. They had known about Cal and Ethan rushing off to Taylor, but what they didn't expect was to see an injured and handcuffed Taylor, a quick flash of Ethan as he darted by, and Cal looking like a puppy who'd just been kicked.

Rita walked into the staff room surprised to see Ethan looking just as broken as Cal. She took a seat next to him but he didn't look at her, instead, he stared straight ahead and spoke to thin air. "Cal will never forgive me." He admitted.

"He will, Ethan. In time. In all honesty, what he did was pretty unforgivable as well. I'd say you were even." She consoled him. Ethan shook his head and sighed.

"He would do anything for that woman, and I got the police on her." This time, Ethan faced her. "I may have also started a fight between us." He spoke cautiously.

"You and Cal had a fight?" She couldn't quite believe it, especially Ethan in a fight. He nodded solemnly.

"A full on fist fight. I swear for a minute it was like I didn't know who I was or who I was fighting. By the look on Cal's face, he thought the same thing..." Ethan told her, wondering how she would react.

"Anger does funny things to people. I'm sure you two will be fine soon." She tried to tell him. He nodded although Rita knew he didn't quite believe it.

A stitched up Taylor was ready to be discharged into custody and deep down, Cal knew this was right. He wanted to tell Ethan that he was right to call the police, but Cal couldn't help feeling guilty and angry towards his brother. He stole Ethan's money, taken their mother's ring that she left to Ethan, undermined him because he was hurting, and all the while Ethan was hurt as well. The number of feelings both brother's had swimming around in them was unheard of.

Taylor mouthed an apology to Cal as she was taken away. He smiled slightly but noticed Ethan approaching him. His face instantly dropped as he tried to predict the conversation to come, hoping it wouldn't end uo with one of them pinned down. "Cal...I...I am sorry..." Ethan told him tentatively, not making eye contact with his brother. Neither Cal nor Ethan were aware of the watchful eyes that landed upon them.

"Me too. I'm sorry for being a right idiot and not seeing what was right in front of me. Taylor was special...when she wasn't... conning me..." Cal replied, trailing off a little at the end.

"Sorry for... er... starting that fight..." Ethan laughed a little. Although he was the one to start the fight, he lost it at the end. Cal drew Ethan into a mocking hug, but both brothers relaxed into it and it was a proper hug, one they hadn't had in donkey's years. The staff looked on astounded at both Ethan and Cal, and both of them knew that although it would take time, they would be proper brothers again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, bit mushier than expected at the end, but who doesn't like brotherly mushiness...
> 
> I discovered something weird as well... I was casually scrolling through Tumblr when I was bored, and I discovered a picture that someone posted of Ethan's hospital notes from Series 29 Episode 5- Born Lucky which showed Ethan's Birth Date. First of all, his name was spelt Eathan…but second, it showed it was 20 March 1985.
> 
> Then in Series 29 Episode 25- Toxic Relationships, when Cal tries to take out a loan, he types his birthday in as 12 February 1986. This would make him one year YOUNGER than Ethan…looks like Casualty forgot how old they made them…
> 
> Thank you for the reviews on the previous chapter! I'm just curious- who cannot wait until tonight's episode (Series 29 Episode 28- Under Pressure)
> 
> Thank you for reading and a review would be greatly appreciated!


End file.
